Plateau (mathematics)

A plateau of a function is a part of its domain where the function has constant value.

More formally, let U, V be topological spaces. A plateau for a function f: U → V is a path-connected set of points P of U such that for some y we have

f (p) = y

for all p in P.

Examples

Plateaus can be observed in mathematical models as well as natural systems. In nature, plateaus can be observed in physical, chemical and biological systems. An example of an observed plateau in the natural world is in the tabulation of biodiversity of life through time. [1]

gollark: It's a theorem prover. It can tell you if certain statements/sets of statements are satisfiable, and if so how.
gollark: And I don't think rust does TCO in general.
gollark: Halting is a side effect though.
gollark: Hmm, I wonder if I can horribly abuse z3 for collatz like I abused it for mazes.
gollark: But for applications where you know n < 2^64 you can just hardcode it yourself if you care.

See also

References
  1. Sahney, S. & Benton, M.J. (2008). "Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 275 (1636): 759–65. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1370. PMC 2596898. PMID 18198148.

This article incorporates material from plateau on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.